Justice, Compassion, & Love Team

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Our Mission Statement:

To live out the teachings of Jesus by serving our neighbors and championing social justice — working together and with the wider faith community to create a more compassionate and loving world.


The Justice, Compassion & Love Team seeks to embody Christ’s call to love our neighbors and championing justice with humility and courage. In partnership with the wider faith community, we commit to supporting all who seek belonging and to leading with compassion and integrity, so that our actions reflect the heart of Christ in today’s world.


Link to JCL Proposal approved by the Church Council


See recent articles at the bottom of the page.


Justice, Compassion and Love Statements

  • January 27, 2026

    Over 500 members and friends of the Vermont Conference signed the Prophetic Call for Justice, a statement crafted by our Justice and Witness Ministries, Conference staff and approved unanimously by the Board of Directors in response to the killing of Renee Good. At least 30 members of our Middlebury Church were among the signers, including our two pastors and all of us on the JCL Team. Our former pastor, David Andrews, and two former interim pastors, Joan O’Gorman and Jonathon New, were also on the list posted.


    We draw attention to the recent sermons of Pastor Andy (January 11) and Pastor Elizabeth (January 25). They are available as videos on our Church’s web page. Pastor Elizabeth reported Sunday on her visit to her former home state, Minnesota, last week. On Saturday (January 24), Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old American intensive care nurse for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, was fatally shot multiple times by two United States Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Videos of the shooting, and their analyses, are widely available in the media and on the web. Now more than ever, we need Justice, Compassion, and Love.


    John Emerson, with Judy Albright, Gary Gillen, Candy McLaughlin, Caitlin Myers, and Andy Nagy-Benson (JCL Team)


Activities and Resources that may be of interest

  • UCC Resources

    The United Church of Christ has tools and programs that have been especially designed to strengthen the justice ministry in our congregation. Learn more about each of them by using the link below.

    Link

  • Open and Affirming Resource

    Drawing upon 25 five years of experience within a

    variety of Christian denominations, this Open and

    Affirming (ONA) Planning Guide provides practical

    resources for becoming a congregation that openly

    welcomes people of all sexual orientations and

    gender identities. Find out more and order here.



  • Justice and Peace Action Network


    The Justice and Peace Action Network (JPANet) is our denomination’s grassroots advocacy network composed of individual members and local UCC congregations across the country. The JPANet both educates and engages its members in shaping public policy and keeping with God’s vision of a just and loving society. Our work is grounded in General Synod resolutions, consonant with historic UCC witness, and formed by a biblical understanding of prophetic ministry.

    For more information

  • Ecumenical Advocacy Days

    The focus of EAD’s National Gathering and other activities is preparation for and participation in grassroots advocacy for justice in the Christian community and helping first-time advocates and experienced hands take advantage of opportunities to improve their lobbying efforts and resourcing them for effective change. Learn more about EAD’s Advocacy work by clicking on the menu at the right.

    For more information

  • UCC General Minister and President Joins CWS in Condemning Immigration Policy

    Official CWS Statement:

    As people of faith, we have watched with growing alarm the White House’s ongoing efforts to undermine this country’s proud tradition of welcoming the stranger. In our congregations, our communities, and our pews, we have long worked, advocated, and prayed in support of refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable people fleeing persecution around the globe. Today, as barrier after barrier is erected to deny those seeking refuge, safety and compassion, we are compelled to speak out - and make good on the spiritual call to love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. (1 John 3:18)


    This spring, as the UCC Administration moved to close the legal pathways that have for decades offered protection and support to refugees and asylum seekers, Church World Service and its partners banded together to sound the alarm through an Ecumenical Declaration in defense of refuge. Issued in faith and in love, the Declaration affirmed our commitment to the centuries-old practice of Christian communities walking alongside refugees and immigrants in their pursuit of safety and dignity. Together, we pledged to restore and promote hospitality and welcome to those seeking refuge – regardless of where they are from, how they pray or what language they speak.

    Read more...

    

    

Articles of Interest